On Tuesday, September 15, President Trump appeared on ABC for a town hall in which he responded directly to voters questions prior to the November elections.
In true Trump fashion, the President ran into a few issues responding to questions in a coherent, factual way.
At one point, a Black pastor, Carl Day, stood up and asked Trump a question about his campaign's infamous motto:
"You've coined the phrase Make America Great Again. When has America been great for African-Americans in the ghetto of America? Are you aware of how tone-deaf that comes off to African-American communities?"
"You'll have people choke" -- Trump on police violence pic.twitter.com/q2ql1Cf2AT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
Presenting with a statistics indicating that Black people are far more likely than Whites to be victims of police violence, Trump quickly changes the topic to polling indicating Black people support having more cops in their communities (He refuses to acknowledge systemic racism) pic.twitter.com/JubzzbUjhf
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
Asked by a Black man to explain when America has every been great for Black people, Trump immediately changes the topic to his polling pic.twitter.com/lxPmy69qn3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
Instead of answering Day's question directly, the President immediately changed the subject, saying:
"Well, I can say this. We have tremendous African-American support. You probably have seen it in the polls. We're doing extremely well with African-American, Hispanic-American, at levels that you've rarely seen a Republican have."
"I hope there's not a race problem" -- Trump on systemic racism pic.twitter.com/B5tezKIkgd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
Day pressed Trump, however, pointing out:
"...you have yet to address and acknowledge that there's been a race problem in America."
The President continued to skate around Day's question.
"Well, I hope there's not a race problem. I can tell you, there's none with me, because I have great respect for all races, for everybody. This country is great because of it."
"But when you go back six months and you take a look at what was happening, you can't even compare that with past administrations. When you look at income levels and a lot of things, because of the job situation, where they had the lowest income, the best unemployment numbers they've ever had, the Black community, by far."
Many viewers admired the pastor for his calm but persistent questioning.
The United States still has a long way to go when it comes to racial justice, something President Donald Trump is unable or unwilling to admit.
President Trump cares only about people who can help him.
The President's advisors might want to think twice before sending him on television to talk to voters again.
Trying to address the concerns of real Americans outside his base is definitely not one of Trump's strengths.
